FRANKFORT, Ky. — Kentucky will open up four new regional coronavirus vaccination sites next week.
What You Need To Know
- Kentucky to open four new regional vaccination sites
- Sites opening up in Lexington, Paducah, Danville
- Lexington's site ran out of open appointments within hours
- People 70 years and older to be prioritized at those sites
When the plan was announced earlier this month, Gov. Andy Beshear said he wanted to start phase 1C of vaccinations by the time the new sites are open, but that won’t happen.
“There are two things that have kept that from happening: one is supply and the two is demand,” Beshear said. “We are seeing demand go through the roof.”
And the vaccine supply hasn’t kept up.
“We had always hoped that we would see more and more supply, and we’re getting that extra 16-to-17%, which we greatly appreciate,” Beshear said, alluding to an increase of vaccines the Biden Administration plans to send next week. “But so much of each of 1A and 1B now wants to get the vaccination. And we’re vaccinating so quickly, but we need more time.”
Beshear announced four new regional vaccinations sites will go live next week:
- Kentucky Horse Park inside Alltech Arena in Lexington. Appointments are required and can be scheduled at kroger.com/covidvaccine. 3,000 spots were opened at 5 p.m. Eastern Time but filled up within hours.
- Ephraim McDowell Hospital in Danville. Register by calling (859) 936-8350.
- Western Baptist Hospital in Paducah. Register by visiting scheduleyourvaccine.com.
- Lourdes Mercy Hospital in Paducah. Register by either visiting mercy.com or calling (270) 548-7191.
People 70 and older will be prioritized at those sites, a decision Beshear said was made because of how large that group is, and because the other groups in phase 1A and 1B are being taken care of.
Beshear says more vaccine sites will be announced next Thursday and the Thursday after that.
“You’re going to see us around the state, in population centers and in rural Kentucky, to ensure that we fill out everywhere that it needs to be,” Beshear said.
Signups started at 5 p.m. Eastern Time for the Lexington location, which had 3,000 open spots, but those spots filled up within hours. The sites are only scheduling a week in advance until supplies increase.
People in phase 1C may also be scheduled for vaccinations next week by signing up at vaccine.ky.gov, but they’ll only receive one if there’s enough leftover vaccine on any given day.
Beshear says the goal is to make sure 90% of vaccines are used by the time they expire, but he’s not aware of any going to waste in Kentucky so far.
The state also set up a hotline for people to call to get help signing up for a vaccine: (855) 598-2246.